VA-Sen (R): And there we go! The AP calls it for Corey Stewart, who currently has a 44.7 to 43.3 lead on Nick Freitas. Stewart is an ardent lover of the Confederacy (despite having been born in Minnesota) who will prove to be a tremendous embarrassment for the GOP in Virginia, which has been trending toward Democrats for years. Much as Ed Gillespie’s racist campaign for governor did last year, Stewart can only help drive disgusted suburbanites away from the GOP.

Corey Stewart, the bombastic conservative who built his public image on championing Confederate symbols, won the Republican Senate nomination in Virginia.

Stewart, a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, defeated state House member Nick Freitas and minister E.W. Jackson in Tuesday's primary. Freitas conceded the race Tuesday night, according to local media. He now faces Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, the party's 2016 vice presidential nominee and a heavy favorite for re-election, in November's midterm election.

Stewart launched his Senate campaign after surprising -- and alarming -- national Republicans by winning 42.5% in last year's gubernatorial primary against former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie.

He made Charlottesville's push to remove its statue of Robert E. Lee the centerpiece of his campaign for governor, holding rallies for the monument and displaying Confederate flags while defending "heritage" at his events. At one point, he attended an Old South ball. He attended a news conference with the leader of the white supremacist protest that later resulted in the death of a counter-protester in Charlottesville. And after that counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was killed in a hit-and-run, Stewart blamed the violence on "both sides."

Kaine had 49 percent to 26 percent for Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, with 5 percent for Libertarian Matt Waters and 20 percent undecided, according to the survey from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.

While Virginians do not register by party, the survey found that a third of self-described Republicans or Republican-leaning voters were not yet backing Stewart — with 20 percent undecided, 10 percent supporting Waters and 3 percent backing Kaine.

While Stewart had backing from 66 percent of Republicans, Kaine had backing from 88 percent of Democrats.

Issues and Answers Network Inc. conducted telephone interviews with 802 respondents across the five regions between July 10 and July 30.

"The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press." - Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, feminist and founder with others of NAACP.

Stewart, the Republican nominee challenging incumbent Democratic senator Tim Kaine in Virginia this fall, has come under sustained fire lately as news outlets have uncovered disturbing past comments from his campaign staff and from Stewart himself — shedding new light on the candidate’s friendly relationships with white-nationalist figures.

The negative publicity seems already to be taking a toll. In a VCU poll of likely voters released late last week, Kaine led Stewart by a comfortable 23 points, 49 percent to Stewart’s 26. That’s an improvement for Kaine from the 18-point lead he enjoyed over Stewart in a Quinnipiac poll from late June, shortly after Stewart won the GOP nomination.

A bit of bad press alone rarely tanks a campaign, but for Stewart, the series of hard hits has established a troubling pattern. ...

Republican leaders in Virginia, meanwhile, appear highly uncertain of how they should handle Stewart and his campaign, especially in the wake of these recent reports. The Virginia Republican party has been divided and dysfunctional for years, and that disunity extends to determining the best path forward in this Senate race.

It’s difficult to imagine a three-month trajectory that results in Kaine losing his seat. Stewart’s abysmal effort, meanwhile, is already affecting the way Virginians — and observers across the country — view the Republican party.